IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS FOR ULTRAKILL LAYER 8: FRAUD, HIDE THIS POST BEFORE SCROLLING FARTHER.
I've been going insane and wanted to collect my thoughts both for myself and everyone else so here:
A (Hopefully) Comprehensive List of Everything We Know About ULTRAKILL LAYER 8: FRAUD
- On December 15, 2025, an announcement written by New Blood CEO Dave Oshry was posted confirming that Fraud will not release in 2025. This will be referred to as the Fraud Delay Announcement or FDA for the rest of this post.
- In the FDA, it was confirmed that development is being stunted at least partially due to the unforeseen complexity of the portal systems. This involves allowing enemies, sound, light, and reflections to accurately travel through portals.
- Continuing from the last point, it was confirmed that due to the difficulty of development and scale of the layer, three members of the New Blood programming team as well as a newly hired member have been moved to assist specifically with ULTRAKILL, just for this update. They will most likely move to other New Blood games after Fraud releases.
- Also as of the release of the FDA, it was confirmed that 8-4 is now being worked on, implying that at least the levels themselves are close to finished, though they may require further polishing and programming due to the portal systems.
- Dave Oshry stated that we can expect Fraud to release very early in 2026, though he also wrote in the FDA: "If I say January, it'll end up being February, if I say February it'll end up being March."
- After the previous quote, Dave Oshry wrote that in order to not make unnecessary deadlines, or in his words, "in order to not set a curse upon us," the next major announcements will just be when they're certain it's releasing and when it's released.
- Hakita has stated that there will likely be very few Screenshot Saturdays or other teaser content for a while after Fraud's release. This is most likely in order to keep Treachery and P-3 as secretive as possible to make them more surprising on launch.
Overall, it's safe to assume that Fraud will at the very least release in Q1 of 2026, though exact dates or even months are up for debate. I personally think it'll come out in the latter half of January, but don't hold your hopes up too high if you don't want the real GD fan experience. After recent Discord measages from Hakita, it sounds like 8-4 is still going to take a while. The update could likely be expected in late February or early March.
That being said, it's important to stay patient in the coming weeks. New Blood clearly puts a monumental amount of love and care into their projects, and favor quality over quantity to the point where their slogan is "We hate money" at this point, so don't get angry if the layer takes days, weeks, or months longer than you expect for it to release. Every passing day is another surface polished, another z-fighting surface straightened out, and another line of code written to make ULTRAKILL fun as Hell.
If you haven't read the Fraud Delay Announcement, I highly recommend you do so here. Dave Oshry's words are frankly touching and to see a team in modern day care so much about bringing a work of art to a spot of perfection rather than chugging out garbage for sales is incredible.
Linked in this section are the most important images and videos needed in order to speculate Fraud's content for yourself, and while you don't necessarily have to watch them yourself, I highly recommend doing so if you're reading through this whole post as they will be referenced frequently.
There are currently four teaser videos posted on Hakita's YouTube channel which showcase important pieces of visuals and gameplay, each listed below:
- ULTRAKILL 92 - Hurtbreak Wonderland (Layer 8 Extended First Look), which shows an extended first look at 8-1: Hurtbreak Wonderland. Something important to note is that the player featured in the video likely had cheats on for some portions of the recording, which is why the UI is hidden. At 1:11 and 1:17, the Railcannon recharge noise can be heard instantly after firing, indicating that the No Weapon Cooldown cheat was enabled. Therefore, some scenes in the video may not perfectly reflect actual gameplay.
- ULTRAKILL 93 - Don't Look Up, which shows a short first look at 8-2, which is currently unnamed. This video mainly showcases the new gravity flipping mechanic and how enemies interact with it, though a quick change in gravity can be spotted in video #92 at 1:14 after the blue hookpoint.
- ULTRAKILL 94 - Deathcatcher, which shows another look at 8-2, this time showcasing gameplay of an entire arena as well as the new, titular enemy, the Deathcatcher.
- ULTRAKILL 95 - Two Places, One Space, which shows a brief look at a currently unknown level (most likely 8-3), showing off a new mechanic in which spaces in a level can shift between different areas or 'dimensions', fluidly changing both the visual environment and the player's surroundings, most importantly including enemies.
These videos will each be referred to by their number (#92, #93, #94, and #95) for the rest of this post.
There are also two Steam announcements which showcase all of the current screenshots of Fraud, both listed below:
- The ULTRA SUMMER 2025 post, shortened to US2025 post for the rest of this analysis, which shows screenshots and concept art of the new lesser angel enemy Providence, as well as screenshots of both 8-1 and 8-2.
- The Fraud Delay Announcement, already talked about at length. It contains four new screenshots as well as screenshots which were only previously posted to the ULTRAKILL Twitter account, though the levels all of these screenshots come from are technically unknown.
- Obvious but I should still state it, Fraud is the second to last layer in the game, featuring four levels, with the last being a boss fight. Being followed only by Treachery, Fraud will have the last normal levels in the game, and most likely the last new non-boss enemies as well, as the last layers of each act (Gluttony and Heresy) are comprised of a long, gauntlet-like level with no new enemies and then a confrontation with Gabriel.
- Hakita has stated that due to Fraud being the last normal layer, he wants it to act as a send-off to ULTRAKILL's level design. It's safe to assume that Fraud's levels will be longer than Violence's, and be held to the highest standard of quality seen thus far in the game.
- 8-1: Hurtbreak Wonderland, is a level primarily set inside of buildings with a fancy hotel aesthetic, at least as shown in #92 as well as all confirmed screenshots of it. In it, there are portions of the level which take place outside of the buildings, revealing a massive cylinder holding a sprawling urban area which surrounds the level.
- 8-1, at least in #92, wastes no time showing that it will use non-Euclidean geometry, shifting and changing room layouts, and portals. Environmental effects and mechanics seen for the first time in #92 are listed below:
V1 can travel through screens and into the areas they depict, only for the screen to disappear behind it. (#92: 0:25, 1:30)
Rooms can expand or shrink when the game calls for it. (#92: 0:30, 0:33)
Rooms can repeat endlessly, allowing for areas that appear infinitely long. (#92: 0:46)
Gravity can change to fit the area. (#92: 0:51, 1:14)
Some rooms have doors which lead to a separate door in the same room, acting as quick portals for complex positioning. (#92: 1:05, 1:16, 1:19)
- The first theme of 8-1 is titled "In Absentia ΛΟΓΟΣ" and can be listened to at the following links:
Heaven Pierce Her - In Absentia ΛΟΓΟΣ (ULTRAKILL 8-1 Theme) (Official, YouTube)
Heaven Pierce Her - In Absentia ΛΟΓΟΣ (ULTRAKILL 8-1 Theme) (Unofficial, Soundcloud)
The title, written in Latin, then Greek, translates roughly to "In the absence of reason," though it could also be read as "In the absence of God" or "In the absence of the divine." Spoken aloud, the title is read as "In Absentia Logos."
- The second theme of 8-1 is titled "Spiral Out (Keep Going)" and can be listened to at the following links:
Heaven Pierce Her - Spiral Out (Keep Going) (ULTRAKILL 8-1 Theme #2) (Official, YouTube)
Heaven Pierce Her - Spiral Out (Keep Going) (ULTRAKILL 8-1 Theme #2) (Unofficial, Soundcloud)
The title is most likely a reference to the song "Lateralus" by Tool, where the last lyrics in the song are "Spiral out, keep going" repeated several times. The song's lyrics focus on a loss of control due to overanalyzing things without deeper meaning and that there is no such thing as linear structure in nature.
Since you can hear a calm version of "Spiral Out (Keep Going)" near the end of its video, it's safe to assume that it is not the theme of a miniboss, as a miniboss theme would have no reason to have a calm variant.
- Due to the intensity of "Spiral Out (Keep Going)" and the themes of "Lateralus", it's safe to assume that 8-1 will prove to be a much darker and more intense level than initially expected from its first theme and #92, at least in its latter half.
- 8-1 introduces a new enemy named Providence, as seen in #92. It appears as a floating, golden square with a single eye, with the square being surrounded by twelve translucent, white wings, alternating in size. All basic information about it is listed below:
Health: Unknown (In #92 at 1:17, a Providence dies after being hit once with an Alternate Sharpshooter alt fire (1.25 dmg), then a direct shot from an electric railcannon (8 dmg). Assuming it took no damage beforehand and it has the same 150% electric damage modifier as Virtues, its health must be between 1.26 and 13.25 inclusive, most likely somewhere around 10 to 13.)
Weight: Unknown (Most likely Medium (Flying) or Heavy (Flying))
To attack, Providence must charge up first, similarly to Virtues. While doing so, a magenta ring appears around the Providence's eye, its wings begin to spin around it rapidly, and it releases a distorted vocal noise. When finished charging, the Providence will fire a magenta projectile, which itself has four magenta lasers firing out at 90° angles around it. It's safe to assume the magenta projectile can be parried but not dashed through, but whether it affects the lasers is unknown. Interestingly, in the US2025 post, the screenshot of two Providences shows a cross of magenta lasers without a projectile. It's possible that parrying a projectile may not cancel the lasers or their movement, or it could just be a bug or other quirk.
Upon death, Providence releases a stationary pinkish-white hookpoint, as can be seen very briefly in #92 through the window on the left of the screen right before the Whiplash is thrown at the blue hookpoint at 1:13, and again when the Providence dies at 1:17. The effect when hooked with the Whiplash is currently unknown.
- 8-2, currently unnamed, is a level primarily set inside of buildings with an office or warehouse aesthetic, at least as shown in #93 and #94, as well as the confirmed screenshots of it.
- 8-2, similarly to 8-1, features its own flavor of nonsensical geometry and mechanics, though we have not seen much compared to 8-1. New mechanics that we've seen for the first time in 8-2 are listed below:
Additional gravity changing, as well as enemies interacting with the player through changes in gravity. (#93, #94: 0:02)
Pathways which loop into other places of the same room, similarly to the doors in 8-1. (#94: 0:35, 1:04)
Mirrors. It's currently unknown what mirrors will do or how other mechanics will interact with them, but it will at least be cool to finally see V1 with proper animations. (Note: It's not technically confirmed that 8-2 has mirrors, but all screenshots we've seen featuring mirrors have a similar aesthetic to what we know 8-2 to look like.)
- The main theme of 8-2 is titled "No Devil Lived On" and a WIP of it can be listened to at the following links:
No Devil Lived On (ULTRAKILL 8-2 WIP Music Preview) (Official, YouTube)
No Devil Lived On (ULTRAKILL 8-2 WIP Music Preview) (Unofficial, Soundcloud)
The title is a palindrome, spelled the same way when reversed. This is most likely a reference to the heavy gravity changing mechanics and (probably) mirrors in the level.
- 8-2 introduces a new enemy named Deathcatcher, as seen in #94. It appears as a grounded stone statue of a human torn in half down the middle, with a long spine stretching out from the split, hanging a beating heart on the end. All basic information about it is listed below:
Class: Unknown (Most likely Lesser Demon)
Health: Unknown (Most likely 999 and instakilled by melee damage, similarly to the Idol)
Weight: Unknown (Most likely Superheavy)
Similarly to Idols, Deathcatchers seem to not have any direct attacks, instead acting as a layer of defense for enemies. When enemies in an arena are killed, active Deathcatchers will continuously revive the killed enemies as Puppeted versions of themselves.
When the Deathcatcher is killed, it will both cause the enemies to stop reviving as well as instantly kill all Puppeted enemies revived by the Deathcatcher.
In #94, the player actively punches the Deathcatcher once its protective case opens instead of using any kind of ranged attack. On death, the Deathcatcher plays the same death noise as the Idol as well as causing a knockback explosion and granting the player the +ICONOCLASM style bonus. This all heavily implies that some code from the Idol was reused for the Deathcatcher and that it can only be killed via melee damage (Punch, Knuckleblaster shockwave, ground slam, or Impact Hammer) in the same way as Idols.
- #95 depicts a new mechanic in which a space can shift between multiple separate areas, each with their own environment and enemies. While the video shown most likely takes place in 8-3 due to the new song and yellow aesthetic, it's currently unknown and could theoretically be part of another level.
- While not confirmed, it's highly likely that Fraud will contain the elusive gold arm, though it's possible it will instead be earned in Treachery as a postgame reward.
- I find it hard to believe that any of Fraud's levels will have only one song in them, especially considering they will most likely be longer than Violence's. Even if 8-4 has only one song for the boss, it will likely be a very long and segmented song similar to War Without Reason. I think, at least for 8-1, 8-2, and 8-3, there will be some kind of introductory song similar to the starts of Violence's levels, though there could be even more.
- As seen in the US2025 screenshots, the lion statues holding human-faced Suns are very prevalent in 8-1. I think it's very reasonable that these statues are depictions of the Geryon, the embodiment of Fraud in Dante's Inferno. In Inferno, the Geryon is described as a beast with the face of an honest man and the paws of a lion, as well as the body of a serpent and the tail of a scorpion. While we clearly don't see the serpentine features in ULTRAKILL's lion statues, the point of the Geryon in Inferno is that it lures others in with its kind exterior before exposing its malicious nature. It's likely the lion appearance is simply a front for something more dangerous inside of the lion. I highly believe that the lion is a depiction of the Geryon and that it will act as some kind of miniboss or boss, most likely a Greater or Supreme Demon.
- In the comments of #94, someone suggested that the style bonus for killing a Deathcatcher should be changed from +ICONOCLASM to +HEARTBROKEN. Hakita replied "Not a bad idea," so it's very likely that this will be the style bonus that actually appears in the game, similarly to how the Gutterman shield break in its reveal video originally said +PARRY, but was changed to +GUARD BREAK in Violence's full release.
- With how the Deathcatcher is revealed (#94: 0:10) and with how it functions, it's possible that the Deathcatcher is a gift to V1 from Hell Itself for V1's knack for violence. The Deathcatcher has a literal curtain raised in a dramatic fashion to reveal it, and its main function is to revive dead enemies as weaker, bloodier versions of themselves, which V1 can easily feed off of.
- The screenshot released in the FDA showcasing a view down a pit with several rings of metallic plating around the sides and golden lights in-between them has some interesting properties, most notably the fact that the image looks alarmingly like a crying baby or screaming face when viewed from afar or shrunken. Looking closer, some of the lights are in seemingly nonsensical or asymmetrical spots, making me believe this is entirely intentional. What this means is very unclear, but it could potentially be related to the Geryon or the demons residing in Fraud in Inferno such as Malacoda and the Malebranche.
- The screenshot released in the FDA showcasing an outdoor view with a pink sky also has some bizarre qualities:
First and most notably, the door directly in front of the player has a pile of debris in front of it, but that debris is missing in the reflection in the water. This could indicate that we'll be able to travel into reflections in some way in these levels.
Secondly, the color of the sky and the outdoor lighting seems to match the light seen through the elevator at the end of #94. It's safe to assume that the outdoor FDA screenshot takes place in 8-2 instead of 8-1. This would also explain the flatter and more distant skybox.
- Despite the imagery of mirrors and V1's reflection, I can't believe for a moment that at any point there will be a serious boss fight against a reflection of yourself. I could see reflections being incorporated into a boss or miniboss, but a fight against V1 itself would be pretty nonsensical for a game like ULTRAKILL and would also basically be a rehashed V2 fight, which Hakita has already stated he doesn't want to do.
- First and most obviously, V2 is dead and not coming back. Hakita has gone at length both in streams and through jokes hidden in ULTRAKILL to confirm again and again that V2 is dead and not coming back. If you seriously think V2 is actually coming back beyond just a fakeout mimic or something, please take your copium mask off.
- There will be no major encounter with Gabriel in Fraud. He can wait for his turn to get his ass beat in Treachery.
Overall, while we do have a lot of information on Fraud, there's still a ton left to know that we haven't seen yet.
And no matter what, it'll be peak.
If I missed anything that you think I should add or you think is otherwise important, please let me know in the comments. I'll try to add anything that I think is serious enough to add and I'll be sure to credit the first people who comment their ideas.
